Bihar bizman has 11% market share in logistics sectorPATNA: From a petty third-party logistics services involving five to six trucks in the 1980s to a multi-crore logistics superpower with 11% market share, Khaitan Logistics Private Limited has earned for its proprietor, Bihar-born P L Khaitan, the coveted tag of a go-getter.

So impressed was Nitish Kumar when he met the Commerce grad at the 90th anniversary function of Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Patna on Friday that the CM in his addresss at the function made a special reference to him. "His story should be told to people," the CM said.

Recalling that president O P Shah introduced Khaitan to him as a Bihari who has now shifted to Jaipur, the CM told the audience that Khaitan, however, had insisted that he was still living in Bihar. "Such people should pay back by way of business investments in their home state," the CM said.

Indeed, Khaitan's firm has its HQ in Jaipur although he has a residence in Patna. It was in Patna that he ventured into business with a two-wheeler dealership around 40 years ago. "At that time I would ask myself how two-wheelers could be transported from the assembly line to dealers without the bikes getting a single scratch," the sexagenarian recalled, explaining how he got the idea of venturing into logistics operations.

Khaitan started with a small team of four people. "In the 1980s, outbound logistics for factories was a new concept. A major challenge was to get a transport permit from every state through which my trucks were to cross," he said and added nowadays one could thankfully have an all-India permit through a single window.

Khaitan Logistics has today 1,500 trucks, carrying 1.2 lakh two-wheelers from factories to dealers in several parts of the country every month. The business magnate laughed off a question about his firm's turnover, but said, "Most of the 200 and odd existing logistics providers in the country operate with ten to twelve trucks. Also, our market share in this particular logistics sector is ten to 11%."

Bihar, according to Khaitan, has good business potential in automobile sector as it is one of the largest consumers. "At least 55,000 two-wheelers are delivered in Bihar every month. Financers also willingly lend finance because people of the state by and large are famous for their 'repayment culture'," he said.